Electoral system of Slovakia: Perspective of political geography

Abstract

More than twenty years after fall of communism Slovakia has experienced unprecedented fall of electoral turnout. It is important to look into the problem of how low turnout may impact ability to get elected in different stages of elections. In the past, there were problems with gerrymandering. This article follows how Slovakia was able to deal with the biggest flaw of its electoral system of the past and investigates its problems today. The article gives a short historical overview of the elections in the region of Slovakia. The stress of the article is on the analysis of the official electoral results of 3 stages of elections to parliament, self-governing regions and municipalities. As electoral systems within the different stages of elections are varied, it is necessary to give an overview on that as well. Analysis of the data will be in the years 1990-2013 with stress on the years 2001-2013. All input data has been provided by the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic. If low voter turnout combined with mobilization of extremists or dissatisfied electorate it may result in election of extremists into office like in Banská Bystrica self-governing region in the 2013 elections.

Political Influence in Communal Elections with Emphasis on the Position of Independent Candidates in Slovakia

“…We must not forget that democracy cannot be democracy without one of its main attributions, elections. Elections give opportunity to every person not only to affect public affairs but also to take partial responsibility for what is going on in the republic as well as in society ( [16] Mikuš and Gurňák, 2014).…”